You can create transformation properties in Eclipse plug-ins
that contain model-to-model transformations. Transformation properties
refine the output that a transformation generates. You can specify
values for these properties when you create or edit a transformation
configuration.
Before you begin
You
must have a plug-in manifest file open in the manifest editor. The
manifest file must contain an instance of the transformation provider
extension point, a transformation provider element, and a transformation. Procedure
- In the plug-in manifest editor, on the Extensions tab,
expand com.ibm.xtools.transform.core.transformationProviders,
expand the appropriate TransformationProvider element, right-click
the Transformation element to which you want to add a property; then
click .
Note: You can also create a transformation
property by clicking the Transformation element and clicking Edit.
In the Transformation Authoring wizard, on the New Transformation
page, in the Properties table, click Insert,
and specify values for the columns in the table. To delete a property,
click a row in the Properties table and click Delete.
- In the plug-in manifest editor, on the Extensions tab,
in the Extension Element Details area, in the name field,
specify a name that enables you to recognize the property.
Tip: For more information
about the fields in the Extension Element Details area,
place the mouse pointer over the name to display hover help.
- In the Extension Element Details area,
in the id field, specify a unique identifier
for the property. This value should be unique within the transformation.
You should specify an identifier that follows this naming convention: x.y,
where x represents the name of the transformation,
and y represents the name of the property.
- Optional: Specify additional information about
the property. For example, in the metatype field,
specify the type of the property. For example, to create a property
of type String that has a maximum length of three characters, specify
the following values:
- In the metatype field, type String.
- In the metatypeData field, type maxLength=3.
- Click .
Results
A Property element is created in the plug-in
manifest file. The new property is displayed on the Properties page
of the New Transformation Configuration wizard or the transformation
configuration editor the next time that you create or edit a transformation
configuration.
You can retrieve the information about the property
by calling the methods in the ITransformationProperty interface. The
methods in this interface extract the value and metadata of a transformation
property. If you extract the underlying metatype data for the property
value by using the getMetatypeData method, to validate the property
value you can specify application code to parse the String that this
method returns. For information about how to retrieve the values for
custom properties, see the Javadoc HTML documentation for the ITransformationProperty
class. Example
For example, to create a String property
called My String Property that has a maximum length of three characters,
in the plug-in manifest editor, on the
Extensions tab,
in the
Extension Element Details area, specify
the following values:
- In the name field, type %MyNewPropertyName
- In the id field, type MyNewPropertyName
- In the metatype field, type String
- In the metatypeData field, type maxLength=3
In the plugin.properties file, add the following line to assign
a value to the %MyNewPropertyName variable:
MyNewPropertyName=My String Property
What to do next
Note: If you create a new plug-in by
using the Plug-in with Transformation template, you can specify this
information on the New Transformation page of the Transformation Authoring
wizard.
Note: Some information, such as links to Eclipse
documentation or to developer guides, is available only from the help
topics that are installed with the product.
